New Mexico district to discipline worker who took fake explosive device to elementary school

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – A southern New Mexico school district says it'll be taking disciplinary action against an employee who took a fake bomb to an elementary school for training purposes, leading to an evacuation of the school.

A Gadsden Independent School District worker took the mock bomb to a school on Monday, district spokesman Louis Villalobos told the Las Cruces Sun-News (http://bit.ly/1g7ObwL ).

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"Apparently this individual took it upon himself to create a (fake) explosive device apparently for some sort of training purpose but there's no training scheduled," Villalobos said.

The principal contacted authorities after learning of the mock bomb, which consisted of an alarm clock fastened to a box containing several sticks of fake dynamite. The school was evacuated while an FBI team inspected and removed the mock explosive device.

Villabobos said the employee is an instructional assistant, a former law enforcement officer and a member of the school's emergency response team.

The school district is headquartered in Sunland Park, which is located south of Las Cruces and north of El Paso, Texas.

Villalobos did not specify how the worker would be disciplined and did not immediately return a call Tuesday.

Kelly Jameson, a spokeswoman for the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, said the worker will not be prosecuted because there was no intent to break a law or incite a disturbance at the school.

The worker had good intentions and now knows he shouldn't have taken the device to school without arranging it in advance, Jameson said.

"You just can't do things like that at a school these days," Jameson said.